Relaciones internacionales.indb - HOMINES

ALINE FRAMBES-BUXEDA
sectors and social classes.
NAFTA is the only model of “Subordinated Integration” being officially
negotiated at the present time. Should the European Economic
Community (EEC) at some point include East Europe in its integration
plans—which seems likely to occur—we could perhaps conclude that the
EEC would also be adopting and transforming itself into this new type of
“Subordinate Integration”; although differences between economic levels
of development are not as great in Europe (East and West) as between the
USA and Mexico. Some would argue that already in 1950-60 southern Italy
was very underdeveloped and that in the 80s, Spain and Portugal were
made part of the EEC in order to lower wages costs and weaken trade
unions by increasing the supply of lower wage workers. 43 Nonetheless,
European countries economic and social structure are a lot more similar.
Also, the EEC allows movement of labor between countries, and provides
provisions to alleviate some of the differences in salaries.
Neo-liberal economic theory, up to the present moment, has considered
that integration is a process and that each experience leads to different
levels of integration. Four basic types of integration exist: 1) Free
Trade Zones 2) Common Markets 3) Customs Unions 4) Full Economic
Unions. 44
NAFTA is an eclectic mixture of all these; it includes elimination of
trade taxes, at the same time it permits the free movement of factors of
production, above all investments (but excludes labor migration), which are
part of a “Custom Union.” In addition, NACLA and the “Enterprise for
the Americas Agreement” make certain changes in the political economy,
privatization of state enterprises and social reforms, that is, elimination
of welfare programs, for participating countries, mandatory. These last
aspects would normally be part of a “Full Economic Union.” To conclude,
at the present time, “Subordinate Integration” contradicts all theoretical
explanations of how beneficial integration between countries should be
organized.
Full support in general has been given to NAFTA and the “Enterprise
43
Frambes-Buxeda, Aline, “Teorías sobre la Integración” Confederación Latinoamericana,
UIPR- Libros Homines, San Juan, 1990, p. 31.
44
See:
a) Bela Belassa, “Hacia una teoría de la Integración Económica,” in: Integración
de América Latina, Ed. Miguel Wionczek, Fondo de Cultura Económica,
Mexico, 1964.
b) Jan Tinberger, International Economic Integration, Amsterdam, 1954.
c) Jacob Viner, The Customs Union Issue, The Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, N.Y., 1950.
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